It is best to know what you can afford and qualify for, you should discuss monthlly payment to make sure this transaction suits you!


Mark Principi
Central Lending Services inc
646 Lincoln highway
Fairless hills Pa 19030
215 295 9080

Hello
It is best to get pre-approved as soon as you have any interest in home buying. These are the reasons... you know where to start your search price wise, what areas you need to be looking in and you will not be looking out of your price range (which can be a cruel reality). In addition, if you do not like the areas you can afford, you will have those 6 months to save up what you need to make it to your goal.

You can get pre-approved with a mortgage company and that pre-approval generally lasts about 3-6 months as long as your situation doesn't change, i.e. job loss, serious credit problems, etc. Then you can just talk to the mortgage company again when you are ready and they can update it for you. As far as getting to know home prices, go to open houses, look on Realtor.com, and possibly interview 2-3 agents for when you are ready. We meet with prospective buyers and go over the entire process, set them up on an automatic search in their price range and location preference. This will really give you a good education on prices, taxes, area, types of homes, etc.

If you would like to come in and talk to me and my team, we can get you pre-approved for a mortgage and talk to you about the home buying process in one session.

Did you know there are only 5 months left until the Free $8,000 tax credit expires?
Start looking NOW – the average homebuyer takes 2-3 months to find and settle on a home
The deadline to settle is November 30th 2009—do your friends a favor, tell them to call us today.

Carmel Archdekin
REALTOR
Coldwell Banker Preferred
223-225 Market Street
Philadelphia PA 19106
Office: 215.923.7600
Cell: 215.680.5998
EFax: 215.940.8207 http://www.cbpref.com
WINNER OF 2008 COLDWELL BANKER ACHIEVERS SOCIETY AWARD

Hrs26

If you are not going to buy for 6 months or more, then wait to get your pre-approval. If you do it now it will be out of date and need to be redone. We like to see a pre-approval that is within 30 days and no older than 90 days of the offering date. In the interim find a realtor that you might want to work with and explain your situation. He should stay in contact and provide updates until you are ready to do a serious search for a home. If you are ready sooner than expected then get approved then. In your planning be aware that under current tax law the $8,000 first time homebuyers credit is scheduled to expire as of November 30th 2009. If you can then take advantage of it but dont make a hasty decision just to get the credit.
Buy on your timline when you are ready.
When you are ready, if you want to search Bucks County don't hesitate to contact us.

Fran and Mark Redding
Prudential Fox & Roach, Realtors
1010 Stonyhill Road
Yardley, PA 19067
215-208-7169 Cell
215-504-7500 Office
215-321-3307 Direct

Hi Hrs26,
This is a very exciting yetscary time and first thing is first you need to get pre approved and go over all of the monthly numbers so you know what your price range is. You have given yourself pleanty of time to educated yourself on the market and loan options. As far as your two questions no it will not hurt you to pull your credit and in this market I have found that is it better to be prepared in case all the stars line up if you know what I mean but only you can sign that contract so you will have to ask yourself the last question. Please feel free to give me a call or send me an e mail if you would like to get pre approved.

Melissa Antenucci
Americrest Mortgage
561-417-9221

Good Morning Hrs26,

Checking your credit or applying for a mortgage will not affect your credit score.
In regard to purchasing here is one scenario. We all know that interest rates are creeping up slowly and what one will pay for later compared to now is astonishing.

Home is mortgaged at $160,000 for 30 years. Down payment is $5600 and interest rate is 5.5% with all fees principal, tax, interest, insurance your monthly is $1,108.64 per month.

Same house at $160,000 same down payment, terms and fees, but interest rate changes to 6%. Your payment now increased by an additional $50.00 per month, and you now pay an additional $18,000 over the next 30 years.

Same as above but interest rate increases to 6.5%, and additional $100.98 an additional $36,352.80 over the next 30 years.

This is just an example and all information should be independently verified and is subject to errors and omissions. There are several factors that can affect the interest rate, one of them is your credit score. If you want to know your credit score, apply for a mortgage, and if there is anything negative, get it taken care of.
Hope this helps.

Peter Lavelle
Citizens Premier Real Estate
(215) 396-0500 x 3440

Buyers- Save $5000 off the purchase price of
your home, GUARANTEED, or I'll give you $1000!!!*
http://www.vipbuyerinpa.com
*Conditions Apply.

Hi Hrs26,

In my opinion you should talk to a mortgage person immediately. This will give you the price range you are in now and also if there are any credit issues stopping you from getting approved or from getting a better rate they will be able tell you what needs to be done to improve your score. Doing this now will not affect your credit rating. This may make you want to purchase a home earlier than you anticipated but as you said if something comes along that you can not pass up you will already have the first step out of the way and be able to put an offer in on it. If you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,
Century 21 Advantage Gold
Brian M. Yoak
office:215-887-4653 x1318
cell:267-303-7380
brian.yoak@c21ag.com

Hrs26,

If you could be ready to make a decision "if the right opportunity presents itself" our recommendation is to get preapproved sooner than later. These opportunities are easily identified and normally don't last long going to those people that can act quickly....being pre-approved will make any offer you make more appealing when submitted.

Once you have been approved for financing you will have some clarity on what wour price range is. This will assist you in targeting your home and neighborhood.

Additionally, it would be good to begin collecting real state information by going to open houses, speaking with agents in your selected locations, doing internet searches, etc.

Best wished with your home search.

The Eckler Team

Hi Hrs26:

You may want to consider speaking with a mortgage professional sometime in early 2010 if you plan on purchasing in March of 2010.

You may want to consider using a service such as http://www.MyFico.com which, for a yearly fee will give you an idea of your credit score without effecting your credit from the two or three main reporting agencies; MyFico also provides valuable information on improving your score, how much loan and the average mortgage rate you might receive given your current score, etc...anyway, you get my point.

Well, best of luck to you!
John (John B.) Badalamenti, Associate Broker
Prudential Fox & Roach, Wayne, PA
610-688-4310